Method and system for providing enhanced caller identification information including total call control for all received calls

ABSTRACT

All calls terminating to a customer&#39;s directory number are intercepted. If caller identification information can be presented, the call is forwarded to a service node for disposition. The service node reconfigures signaling information of the call so that the call is not intercepted, then forwards the call to the subscriber&#39;s telephone. When the call is answered, the service node states the name or telephone number of the calling party which has been retrieved from the signaling information. The caller can decide whether to take the call, deny the call, send the call to voice mail or send a sales refusal message or other disposition option.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a division of application Ser. No. 10/034,851filed Dec. 7, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,113, which is incorporatedherein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services.More particularly, the present application relates to a method andsystem for providing enhanced caller identification informationincluding screening invalid calling party numbers.

Telecommunications service providers typically offer services thatattempt to provide customers with information that enables them todetermine whether or not to accept a call before answering the call. Oneservice that provides such information is caller identification (“CallerID”). Standard Caller ID services generally provide a customer with anindication of who is calling without requiring the customer to answerthe call. These systems typically retrieve information about the callingparty from a database and provide that information to the called party.Customer premise equipment (CPE) in the form of a display device isgenerally used to provide the called party with a visual readout of thename and/or telephone number associated with the calling party.

However, the effectiveness of Caller ID systems can be reduced due to anumber of different occurrences. One such occurrence is the inability ofa service provider to provide the standard Caller ID information for aparticular incoming call. A service provider may not be able to providethe standard Caller ID information if the Caller ID information isblocked by the calling party, or if the Caller ID information isunavailable or incomplete. This may occur, for example, if the callingparty pressed *67 when initiating the call

When the standard Caller ID information cannot be provided, the calledparty is not adequately informed about who is calling and cannotdetermine whether or not to accept the incoming call before answeringthe call. Because the effectiveness of Caller ID systems is greatlyreduced when information cannot be provided, an improved system andmethod for providing caller identification information that overcomethese deficiencies are needed.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998 and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present application, is incorporatedherein by reference. This patent application discloses a method andsystem for providing a called party with audible caller identificationinformation when standard caller identification cannot be provided. Whenstandard caller identification cannot be provided, the call is blockedand a request for audible caller identification is transmitted to thecalling party. The audible information is subsequently transmitted tothe called party.

Patent application Ser. No. 09/265,001, filed Mar. 3, 1999 and commonlyassigned to the assignee of the present application, is incorporatedherein by reference. This patent application discloses a method andsystem for providing to a customer an audible call waiting notificationof a current call. The notification is provided for all calls, includinga first-received call and a subsequently-received call waiting call. Thesystem notifies the customer that a current call is waiting in a mannerthat reduces confusion. Confusion is reduced by the combination ofaudible call waiting indicators and audible caller identificationinformation associated with the calling telephone station. Additionally,both the indicator and the representation of the information can beprovided automatically without significant delay. The indication isprovided even when standard caller identification information is notavailable by prompting the caller to provide spoken calleridentification information.

In the systems disclosed in the incorporated patent applications,callers to a privacy service subscriber must provide calleridentification information before the call is completed. However,additional convenience features are required to enhance the service as aproduct, to provide additional options for handling every incoming call,and to reliably implement the service in a telecommunication network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system; and

FIGS. 2-8 are a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forprocessing a call in the telecommunications system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating system messages that may be used inconjunction with the system of FIG. 1 and the method of FIGS. 2-8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

By way of introduction only, the preferred embodiments below providecall management features to intercept all calls terminating to asubscriber's directory number. These embodiments are a system and methodwhich may be referred to as Total Control service.

A received call for a Total Control service subscriber is suspended uponreceipt. If the call routing information for the calling party is markedpresentation restricted or presentation unavailable so that standardcaller identification can not be provided, the call is passed to servicelogic for a separate privacy service. If the call routing informationfor the calling party is marked presentation allowed, the call will beintercepted by total control service logic and forwarded to networkequipment such as a service node or intelligent peripheral (generally,“SN/IP”) for disposition. The SN/IP will place a new call to theoriginal called party. When the called party's phone rings and isanswered, the called party will hear the name of the calling party anddecide whether to accept the call, deny the call, send the call to asales refusal announcement or send the call to a voice mail box.

The embodiments described herein provide several important benefits. Inone embodiment, a call processing system and method allow a subscriberto add incoming calls to a blocking list as desired. Once a directorynumber is added to the subscriber's blocking list, all subsequent callsfrom the calling party associated with that directory number will bedenied. Blocking is accomplished when the subscriber denies the call andthe subscriber is given an option to add the calling directory number tothe customer's blocking list. The subscriber does not have to enter thecalling party's directory number. In the preferred embodiment, thesubscriber only has to enter a single key press, such as pressing 1 onthe telephone keypad. In response to detection of this key press, thesystem will automatically add the calling directory number to thesubscriber's blocking list.

In another embodiment, when the SN/IP or other network equipment makesthe new call to the subscriber, the call will be uniquely configured toproduce the calling party's name or number for display on thesubscriber's caller identification unit. Also, in the preferredembodiment, when the subscriber answers the call, the SN/IP will performa text to speech conversion of the calling party name or number forevery call. This information is sent to the SN/IP between the first andsecond ring on the original call.

To complete the call from the SN/IP to the subscriber and uniquelyconfigure the caller identification information, a new technicalimplementation is presented. A call setup message for the call from theservice node is reconfigured at the SN/IP. Typically, when the SN/IPoriginates a call, the directory number of the SN/IP is the callingparty identifier and the subscriber directory number is the called partyidentifier. In one embodiment, the parameters of the call setup messageare modified to the following:

Setup message: Calling Party ID DN of original calling party CalledParty ID Total Control subscriber's DN Redirecting Element1 a unique 10digit number assigned to the Total Control service

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of atelecommunications system 100. The system 100 comprises a serviceswitching point (SSP) 102, a signal transfer point (STP) 104, a servicecontrol point (SCP) 106, a first SCP database 108, a second SCP database110, a compact service node (CSN) 112, a central office 114, calledtelephone station 116, calling telephone station 118 and communicationlink 120. Intelligent network system components, commonly referred to asadvanced intelligent network (AIN) components, suitable for implementingthe present embodiment are commercially available from several vendorsand are known to those skilled in the art. AIN components can implementcomputer readable program code as known to those skilled in the art.Vendors of AIN components typically have a preferred programminglanguage and operating platform as known to those skilled in the art.

SSP 102 preferably comprises an AIN switch that routes calls, recognizesand responds to triggers, generates queries to obtain call informationand responds to returned call information. SSP 102 connects calledtelephone station 116 with central office 114 to enable calls to beplaced between called telephone station 116 and calling telephonestation 118. SSP 102 preferably communicates with SCP 106, centraloffice 114 and CSN 112 by utilizing a signaling protocol such asSignaling System 7 (SS7) or other such signaling protocols as presentlyknown to those skilled in the art or developed in the future. SSP 102preferably generates queries to SCP 106 and receives and responds toresponses to the queries returned from SCP 106. In the illustratedembodiment, communication between the SSP 102 and the SCP 106 employsTransaction Capabilities Applications Protocol or TCAP.

STP 104 preferably comprises a network element that transfers signalingcommunications in response to signaling protocols such as SS7 or othersuch signaling protocols as presently known to those skilled in the artor developed in the future. STP 104 preferably transfers queries fromSSP 102 to SCP 106 and transfers responses to the queries from SCP 106to SSP 102.

SCP 106 preferably comprises an AIN element that stores accountinformation, call information and receives and responds to queries. SCP106 preferably stores account information about a called party's accountas well as call control information in the first SCP database 108 andcan access the stored information. SCP 106 also stores standard calleridentification information in the second SCP database 110 and can accessthe stored caller identification information. SCP 106 receives queriesgenerated by SSP 102 and preferably responds to the queries byperforming database searches to locate the requested call control oraccount information or caller identification information as known tothose skilled in the art. SCP 106 can forward the call control oraccount information or caller identification information to SSP 102.

CSN 112 preferably comprises a network element that enablescommunications between telephone stations 116, 118 and the network. CSN112 can preferably transmit messages to and receive responses fromtelephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can generate announcements that canbe transmitted to telephone stations 116, 118. CSN 112 can transmitresponses such as audible caller identification information fromtelephone station 118 to telephone station 116 by connecting telephonestations 118, 116 or by recording and playing back the responses asknown to those skilled in the art. The announcements transmitted totelephone station 116 preferably comprise accept and reject optionsalong with requests for input from the telephone station 116. Therequests for input preferably comprise requests for input that can beused by CSN 112 to cancel calls to telephone station 116, connect callsto telephone station 116, forward calls to a voice mail system oranother location such as another telephone line, and transmit messagesto telephone station 118. As used herein, the term voice mail systemmeans all types of message recording systems as known to those skilledin the art. CSN 112 can preferably receive and respond to the inputtransmitted from telephone station 116. The term input means anysuitable signal such as DTMF tones, voice input, dial pulse input ormodem/fax input as known to those skilled in the art.

In alternative embodiments, other system equipment may provide thefunctions provided by CSN 112. For example, equivalent functionality maybe provided by an AIN service node or by an Intelligent Peripheral, asthose terms are understood in the art. The device performing thesefunctions may also be referred to as a SN/IP or service node. Thesecomponents and others which are operationally equivalent may besubstituted for the CSN 112 in FIG. 1 and it is intended that anyequipment capable of performing the operations described herein may beused to implement this functionality.

Communication link 120 in the illustrated embodiment provides datacommunication between the CSN 112 and the SCP 106 according to apredefined data transmission protocol. In the illustrated embodiment,the data transmission protocol is transmission control protocol/internetprotocol. In other embodiments, other data transmission protocols orformats may be substituted.

Database 108 preferably comprises a data storage element for use withSCP 106 as known to those skilled in the art. Database 108 preferablystores account and call control information that can be implemented bySSP 102 to control calls. Such account and call control information isknown to those skilled in the art.

Database 110 preferably comprises a standard caller identification withname database as known to those skilled in the art. When the informationis available in the system, database 110 typically includes the name ofthe person associated with calling telephone station 118, along with thetelephone number that is associated with calling telephone station 118.Database 110 can alternatively comprise a caller assistance database asknown to those skilled in the art. While databases 108, 110 are depictedwithin a telecommunications system, databases 108, 110 can comprise anysuitable databases containing information adapted for use in the presentembodiment and are not limited to databases located within atelecommunications network. It is also important to note that whiledatabases 108, 110 are shown as separate components, they can beimplemented as a single database.

Central office 114 preferably comprises an AIN network switch as knownto those skilled in the art. Central office 114 enables calls to beplaced between calling telephone station 118 and called telephonestation 116. Alternatively, central office 114 can comprise a non-AINnetwork switch as known to those skilled in the art.

Telephone stations 116, 118 preferably comprise analog telephone sets asknown to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, telephone stations116, 118 can comprise wireless, PCS, ISDN or any other form ofcommunication station known to those skilled in the art. Calledtelephone station 116 preferably includes customer premises equipment(“CPE”) for use with caller identification services as known to thoseskilled in the art.

FIGS. 2-8 are a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forprocessing a call in the telecommunications system of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2, the method begins at block 200. At block 202, a call isreceived in the network. The call is placed by a calling party at acalling communication station and intended for a called party at acalled communication station. The call is routed through the network toa terminating SSP associated with the called communication station. Atthe SSP, the call encounters a termination attempt trigger associatedwith the Directory Number (DN) of the called communication station. Inresponse to the termination attempt trigger, the SSP transmit atermination attempt query message to the SCP, block 204.

The termination attempt query is processed at the SCP. At block 206, itis determined if the DN of the called party, contained in thetermination attempt query message, corresponds to a subscriber to theTotal Control service. If not, the SCP determines if the DN for thecalled party corresponds to a subscriber to a privacy service, block208. If not, at block 210, the SCP operates to deliver the caller name,if possible, to the called party in accordance with the AIN standardcaller name and number delivery feature. At block 212, call processingcontinues normally.

If, at block 206, it was determined that the called DN corresponds to aTotal Control subscriber, at block 214 it is determined if standardcaller identification information can be provided for the callingcommunication station. In some instances, the standard calleridentification information cannot be provided. This happens, forexample, if the caller has blocked this information or because elementsof the telecommunication network do not pass this information.

At the SCP, it is determined if the call is marked presentationrestricted or presentation unavailable. This information is contained ina presentation restriction field of network messaging between the SSPand the SCP. If so, control proceeds to block 216 where the SCPimplements the service logic for the privacy service. This privacyservice may be of the type described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/122,484, filed Jul. 24, 1998, and incorporated herein by reference.At block 218, call processing according to the privacy service continuesas normal.

At block 220, after determining that the standard caller identificationinformation can be provided, the SCP determines if the calling directorynumber (DN) is on a blocking list of the called party. The blocking listcorresponds to directory numbers or other identifying information fororiginating or calling telephone numbers which should be blocked fromcompleting calls to the subscriber. If a DN is on the blocking list, thesystem automatically prevents all subsequent calls from completing tothe called party.

At block 220, the calling directory number is retrieved from thetermination attempt query message received by the SCP and comparedagainst the blocking list for the called party. The blocking list may bestored in a database of the SCP or other suitable network location. Ifthe calling directory number is on the subscriber's blocking list, atblock 222, the SCP transmits a Send_To_Resource message directing theterminating SSP to transmit an announcement to the calling partyannouncing the handling of the call.

FIG. 9 is a table listing one embodiment of a set of messages which maybe used in conjunction with the method of FIGS. 2-8 and the system ofFIG. 1. At block 222 (FIG. 2), the Send_To_Resource message transmittedto the SSP includes an announcement identifier which identifies theannouncement the SSP is to play to the calling party. At block 224, theSSP plays the specified announcement to the calling party. In oneembodiment, announcement (1) from FIG. 9 is played, explaining to thecalling party that the call cannot be completed and that the callednumber is not receiving calls at this time. At block 226, callprocessing continues as normal.

If, at block 220, the calling directory number was not on thesubscriber's blocking list, at block 228 it is determined if theRedirecting Party ID of the terminating attempt query message receivedby the SCP is set equal to the directory number of the network equipmentidentified to handle the playing of announcements and collections ofdigits for the Total Control service. The Redirecting Party ID is one ofthe data fields of an SS7 message communicated among components of thenetwork. The identified network equipment maybe an AIN service node, aCompact Service Node (CSN), an Intelligent Peripheral or SN/IP or otherfunctionally equivalent combination of hardware and software. If thedirectory number assigned to this equipment is contained in theRedirecting Party identifier field of the termination attempt querymessage, control proceeds to block 402, FIG. 4. Otherwise, at block 230the SCP transmits a Forward_Call response message to the SSP. Controlthen proceeds to block 302 FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates a new technical implementation for completing a callfrom a SSP or SN/IP to the subscriber and configuring calleridentification information. At block 302, the call information is routedfrom the terminating SSP to the CSN, based on the called directorynumber received in the Forward_Call response message from the SCP. Inone embodiment, a primary rate interface (PRI) is used to connect theSSP and the CSN. CNAME (TR1188) functionality is assigned to the PRI. Atblock 304, the call is received at the CSN and the setup messageprepared by the SSP is interpreted. The incoming call is not answered atthis time, but rather is left in a ringing state. That is, the callingparty hears ringing. The incoming setup message received from the SSPcontains redirecting element information. The caller name is providedbetween the first and the second ring and received at the CSN.

At block 306, the CSN originates a new call to the directory numberfound in the redirecting element of the call setup message received fromthe SSP. The CSN originates a setup message with the Calling Party IDset equal to the original calling party and the Redirecting Element setequal to the directory number for the CSN. Thus, the setup messageincludes the following information.

Calling Party ID DN of original calling party Called Party ID TotalControl Subscriber DN Redirecting Element 1 a unique 10 digit numberassigned to the Total Control service

Reconfiguring the redirecting element in this manner will allow the SCPservice logic to determine that the call is from the CSN and should bepresented to the subscriber, rather than forwarded back to the CSN. Ifthis parameter is missing, the call from the CSN would go into anindefinite loop and no calls would complete to the customer.

At block 308, the call including the setup message formatted by the CSNis received at the SSP. The incoming call encounters a terminationattempt trigger at the SSP. In response to the termination attempttrigger, the SSP transmits a terminating attempt query message at block310 to the SCP for processing. Control then proceeds to block 206, FIG.2.

On this pass through the logic illustrated in FIG. 2, the only change isthe information tested at block 228. In this case, the redirecting partyidentifier has been set equal to the directory number for the CSN. Thus,control proceeds to block 402, FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates actions taken by the SSP and CSN in attempting tocomplete the call to the called party at the called communicationstation. At block 402, the SSP receives an Authorize₁₃ Terminationresponse message from the SCP. This message contains the informationnecessary to complete routing of the call to the called directorynumber. Upon receipt of this message, the SSP directs the CSN to beginringing the called directory number.

At block 404, it is determined if the called directory number is busy.If so, at block 406, the CSN disconnects the call to the calleddirectory number and at block 408 the CSN answers the incoming call andplays a suitable announcement to the calling party. One example of asuitable announcement is announcement (2) in FIG. 9, communicating thatthe called party is not available. Call processing continues normally atblock 410.

At block 412, it is determined if the called telephone is off hook,indicating that the called party is answering the phone. If not, atblock 414, after a predetermined time, the CSN times out and disconnectsthe call from the called telephone. At block 416, the CSN answers theincoming call and plays a suitable announcement to the calling party.Again, an example of a suitable announcement is announcement (2), FIG.9. Call processing continues normally at block 418.

At block 420, if it was determined at block 412 that the calleddirectory number is off hook and being answered, the CSN plays asuitable announcement to the called party. An example of a suitableannouncement is announcement (3), FIG. 9. This announcement identifiesthe total control service and asks the called party to respond,acknowledging the announcement. At block 422, the CSN determines if theresponse from the called party is a DTMF D-tone, i.e., autovon tone orother type of actuation by the called party at the called communicationstation. If so, at block 424, the CSN answers the call from the callingparty and does a 2B channel transfer to join the call from the callingparty to the voice mail box associated with the called party. Callprocessing then continues normally at block 426.

At block 428, the CSN determines if the subscriber presses any key ofthe telephone keypad. If not, at block 430, the CSN waits for a timeoutperiod. After this period has elapsed, the CSN will assume that the callhas been answered at the called communication station by an answeringmachine or other answering device. At block 432, the CSN then answersthe calling party and plays a suitable announcement, such asannouncement (4) of FIG. 9. At block 434, the CSN does a 2B channeltransfer to join the call from the calling directory number and theanswering system. Call processing then continues normally at block 436.

If, at block 428, the specified customer response was received, at block438, the CSN plays a suitable announcement to the called party. In theembodiment of FIG. 4, the specified response is a pressing of the number1 on the telephone keypad by the customer. If the CSN detects this, forexample by sampling the DTMF received from the called communicationstation, the CSN then plays an announcement identifying the callingparty. Any DTMF entry will be detected.

In accordance with one embodiment, the CSN receive the display text namefor the calling party between the first and second ring of the originalcall. The CSN does a text-to-speech conversion on this received text tocomplete the announcement of the calling party identification. If thename was unknown, corresponding to a CNAME database error, the CSN willretrieve the calling directory number from the setup message. Thisnumber is transmitted in the Calling Party ID parameter of the AINmessaging. The CSN will then do a text-to-speech conversion on thecalling directory number. Thus, preferably the display text nameinformation is used to announce the name of the calling party. Ifunavailable, the calling DN from the setup message is used to announcethe telephone number of the calling party.

As shown in message (5B) of FIG. 9, the called party is further givenoptions for call disposition. In the illustrated embodiment, pressing 1on the telephone keypad will accept the call, pressing 2 will deny orreject the call, pressing 3 will play a sales call refusal message tothe caller and pressing 4 will forward the call to voicemail. Thisannouncement is played to the called party by the CSN. Control thenproceeds to block 502, FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates processing of selected call disposition options froma subscriber to the Total Control service. At block 502, the CSNdetermines if the subscriber has pressed the number 1 on the keypad,corresponding to accepting the call. If so, at block 504, the CSN playsa suitable announcement to the called party. For example, in message(14) of FIG. 9, the CSN announces that it is now connecting the call tothe calling party. At block 506, the CSN answers the call from thecalling party and does a 2B channel transfer, connecting the callingparty and the called party. At this point, the CSN is no longer involvedin the call and the calling and called parties are directly connectedthrough the network. Call processing continues at block 508.

At block 510, it is determined if the subscriber pressed number 2 on thekeypad, corresponding to a rejection of the call. If so, call processingcontinues at block 602, FIG. 6.

At block 512, it is determined if the customer has pressed number 3 onthe telephone keypad. This corresponds to sending the sales refusalmessage to the caller. If so, call processing continues at block 702,FIG. 7.

At block 514, it is determined if the customer has pressed the number 4on the telephone keypad. This corresponds to a forward to voicemail. Ifso, call processing continues at block 802, FIG. 8.

At block 516, it is determined if the customer has pressed an invaliddigit, corresponding to an option not provided for call disposition. Ifso, at block 518, it is determined if this is the first error committedby the called party. For example, a counter may be implemented trackingthe number of erroneous responses from the called party. If this is notthe first error, control proceeds to block 708, FIG. 7. If this is thefirst error, the CSN plays suitable announcements to the called party,block 520. Examples of suitable announcements are announcements 12 and5, FIG. 9, explaining that the received response is not valid andinviting the subscriber to enter a valid response. Control then returnsto block 502.

If, at block 516, the customer did not press an invalid digit, at block522 it is determined if a timeout condition has occurred. This willoccur if no response is received from the customer within apredetermined time, such as 5 seconds. If the timeout occurs, at block524 it is determined if this is the first customer error encountered. Ifso, control proceeds to block 708, FIG. 7. Otherwise, control proceedsto block 436, FIG. 4, where an announcement is again played to thecalled party, prompting the called party to respond.

If the timeout condition tested at block 522 does not occur, at block526, the system determines that the called party has gone back on hookor hung up the phone. Control then proceeds to block 714, FIG. 7.

FIG. 6 illustrates actions to be taken upon receipt of a rejection ofthe call by the called party and an offer of the option to add thedirectory number of the calling party to the subscriber's blocking list.At block 602, the CSN identifies the party to which an announcementshould be communicated. For the calling party, at block 604, the CSNanswers the call from the calling party and plays a suitableannouncement to the calling party. One example of a suitableannouncement is announcement (2), FIG. 9, stating that the called partyis not currently available. Call processing continues normally at block606.

At block 608, for the called party, the CSN plays an announcementregarding the called party's denial of the incoming call. An example ofa suitable announcement is announcement (6), FIG. 9. In accordance withthe current embodiment, the announcement invites the called party to addthe directory number associated with the calling party to the calledparty's blocking list. A call disposition option, such as pressing 1 toadd the number to the blocking list, is provided. At block 610, if thedigit collected by the CSN is a 1 or other specified digit for addingthe calling party identifier to the blocking list, at block 612, the CSNplays a suitable announcement to the called party and releases the callwith the called party. One example of a suitable announcement isannouncement (7), FIG. 9, which confirms the addition of the callingdirectory number to the called party's blocking list At block 613, theCSN updates the customer blocking list at the SCP via a TCP/IP linkbetween the CSN and SCP. Other data communication formats or channelsmay be used. Call processing continues at block 614.

If the CSN did not detect entry of the option selecting addition of thedirectory number to the blocking list, at block 616, the CSN determinesif the customer entered a selection other than 1 or other validselection. If so, at block 618, the CSN determines if this is the firsterroneous entry by the subscriber, for example by testing a counter. Inthe case of the first error, at block 620, the CSN plays appropriateannouncements inviting the called party to enter a valid selection.Control returns to block 610 to test the entry provided by the customer.If this was not the first erroneous entry by the subscriber at block618, the CSN plays a suitable announcement to the called party andreleases the call at block 622. Examples of suitable announcements areannouncements (12) and (9), FIG. 9, explaining the response is not validand inviting the customer to hang up. Call processing continues normallyat block 624.

If neither a valid nor an invalid entry was received from the subscriberat blocks 610,616, block 626 determines if the subscriber's telephonehas gone back on hook. If so, at block 628, the CSN releases the call tothe subscriber and the number is not added to the blocking list. Callprocessing continues as normal in block 630. If the customer has notgone on hook, at block 632 the CSN tests for a timeout condition.Further, the CSN determines if this was the first error in processingthe call to subscriber. This may be done, for example, by testing acounter. If this is the first error, at block 634, the CSN plays asuitable announcement to the called party. One example of a suitableannouncement is announcement (8), FIG. 9, which again invites thesubscriber to add the calling directory number to the subscriber'sblocking list. Control then proceeds to block 610 to detect a subsequententry by the subscriber.

If, at block 632, this was not the first error, or if any other errorcriteria has been met, at block 636, the CSN plays an announcement tothe called party and releases the call to the subscriber. One example ofa suitable announcement is announcement (9), FIG. 9, inviting thesubscriber to hang up at any time. Call processing proceeds as normal atblock 638.

FIG. 7 illustrates processing of several call distribution optionsextended to the Total Call service subscriber during processing of thecall in FIG. 5. At block 702, the processing of a sales refusal messageis begun. First it is determined to which party a message should beplayed. For the calling party, block 704, the CSN answers the call fromthe calling party and plays a suitable announcement to the callingparty, then releases the call. One example of a suitable announcement isannouncement (10), FIG. 9, refusing the solicitation from the callingparty. For the called party, block 706, the CSN plays a suitableannouncement to the called party and then releases the call. One exampleof a suitable announcement is announcement (11), FIG. 9, confirming theplaying of the sales call refusal message to the caller and inviting thecalled party to hang up at any time.

At block 708, processing of the call when successive erroneous orinvalid entries have been received from the called party is begun. Atblock 710, a suitable message is played to the calling party. Oneexample of a suitable message is message (2), FIG. 9, simply statingthat the called party is not available. After the CSN plays thisannouncement, the call is released by the CSN. At block 712, for thecalled party, the CSN plays a suitable announcement, such asannouncement (13), FIG. 9, stating that the service cannot complete thecall and inviting the called party to hang up. The CSN then releases thecall to the called party.

At block 714, processing for the situation where the customer has goneback on hook, hanging up on the call, is begun. For the calling party,at block 716, the CSN plays a suitable announcement, such asannouncement (2), FIG. 9, stating that the called party is notavailable. The CSN then releases the call from the calling party. Atblock 718, since the called party has already hung up, the CSN simplyreleases the call.

FIG. 8 illustrates operation of the CSN when the subscriber has selectedrouting the call to a voicemail system as the call disposition option,block 514, FIG. 5. At block 802, the CSN plays appropriate announcementsto the called party and releases the call. Examples of appropriateannouncements are announcements (15) and (9), FIG. 9. Theseannouncements, for example, confirm the called party's selection routingthe call to voicemail and advise the called party that they may hang up.At block 804, the CSN retrieves the directory number assigned to thecalled party's voicemail. The CSN configures the setup message to routethe call to the voicemail directory number. The CSN then originates thecall, transferring the call to the voicemail directory number. At block806, the CSN determines if the recording from the voicemail isavailable. If not, at block 810, the CSN releases the call placed to thevoicemail directory number. At block 812, the CSN answers the call fromthe calling party, makes an appropriate announcement and releases thecall. An appropriate announcement is exemplified by announcement (16),FIG. 9, explaining that the calling party's call cannot be completed andrequesting hang up and redial. Call processing continues normally atblock 814.

If the CSN detects operation of the voicemail system, at block 816, theCSN answers the call from the calling party and does a 2B channeltransfer to join the calling directory number and the voicemaildirectory number. At block 818, call processing continues as normal.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the present embodiments provide asystem and method for intercepting all calls terminating to a customer'sdirectory number. If caller identification information can not beprovided based on the signaling information for the call, the call ispassed to a privacy service for processing. If caller identificationinformation can be presented and the customer is a subscriber to theTotal Control service, the call is forwarded to a CSN, SN/IP or servicenode for disposition. The service node places a call to the subscriber'stelephone. When the call is answered, the service node states the nameor telephone number of the calling party which has been retrieved fromthe signaling information. The caller can decide whether to take thecall, deny the call, send the call to voice mail or send a sales refusalmessage or other disposition option.

By routing the call to the CSN or service node, the signaling trafficrequired for playing messages and collecting digit information from thesubscriber is removed from the SCP and SSP, freeing them up to handleother call messaging. The CSN is well-suited to interaction with acustomer by playing messages and collecting digits. By appropriatelyreconfiguring elements of the AIN messages, the source of the new callmay be identified so that the call can be completed to the subscriberwhen the call is placed by equipment of the Total Control service.

It is to be understood that a wide range of changes and modifications tothe embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in theart and are contemplated. It is therefore intended that the foregoingdetailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting,and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including allequivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A call processing method comprising:routing a call to a terminating service switching point associated witha called communication station; receiving, at a service control pointfrom the terminating service switching point, a termination attemptquery message for the call from a calling party at a callingcommunication station, the call intended for a called party at thecalled communication station; determining, at the service control point,from the termination attempt query message whether standard calleridentification information can be provided for the call and whether thecalled party associated with a called party directory number is asubscriber to a call control service; if the called party is thesubscriber to the call control service, and if the standard calleridentification information can be provided, determining whetherpredetermined data is present in the termination attempt query message;if the called party is the subscriber to the call control service,determining if a redirecting element field is set to a predeterminedirectory number of a service node designated to process calls for thecall control service; wherein determining whether predetermined data ispresent comprises testing a value of the redirecting element of thetermination attempt query message; wherein when the redirecting elementis set to the predetermined directory number of the service nodeidentified to play announcements to the called party, sending a forwardcall response message to the terminating service switching point; inresponse to the forward call response message, the terminating serviceswitching point routing the call to the service node designated toprocess calls for the call control service; the service node originatinga new call to the predetermined directory number, including formatting asetup message with the redirect element filed set to the predetermineddirectory number; receiving the new call at the terminating serviceswitching point, transmitting a new terminating attempt query to theterminating service switching point; determining by the terminatingservice switching point if the redirect element field is set to thepredetermined directory number; if so, sending an authorize terminationmessage from the terminating service control point to the terminatingservice switching point for processing the call to the called party andannouncing the call; wherein announcing the call includes: playing amessage prompting the called party at the called communication stationto select a call disposition option by entering a single key press; atthe service node, detecting signaling information due to the single keypress; and at the service node, adding a calling directory number to ablocking list at a service control point via a communication link whenthe signaling information corresponds to a call blocking option; whereinwhen the redirecting element is not set to the predetermined directorynumber of the service node, the service node: receiving call informationin response to a called directory number of the called communicationstation prior to originating the new call; leaving the call in a ringingstate to the calling communication station prior to originating the newcall; originating the new call to a directory number associated with thecalled communication station, the originating the new call including theservice node generating a call setup message having a calling partyidentifier set to the calling directory number and the redirectingelement set to the predetermined directory number of the service node.2. The call processing method of claim 1 further comprising: if thestandard caller identification information cannot be provided, routingthe call to a privacy service.
 3. The call processing method of claim 1further comprising: at the service node, playing the message providing afirst call disposition option to reject the call and a second calldisposition option to reject the call and add the calling directorynumber to the blocking list.
 4. The call processing method of claim 1wherein detecting signaling information comprises detecting dual tonemulti-frequency signals at the service node.